


Lost and Found

by Jerbic



Category: El Goonish Shive
Genre: Animal Death, Bravery, Love, Medical Trauma, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 13:45:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17060897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerbic/pseuds/Jerbic
Summary: I've always found Ms Pompoms to be a sympathetic character and felt she needed a story of her own. In the absence of Dan naming her, I decided to name her Judith. The name seems to fit.This is the third story dealing with Judith and Susan Pompoms and Scott McLeodThe chronological order for reading these is:1.  New Neighbors pt. 1.2.  New Neighbors pt. 2.3.  Lost and Found





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> I've always found Ms Pompoms to be a sympathetic character and felt she needed a story of her own. In the absence of Dan naming her, I decided to name her Judith. The name seems to fit.  
> This is the third story dealing with Judith and Susan Pompoms and Scott McLeod  
> The chronological order for reading these is:  
> 1\. New Neighbors pt. 1.  
> 2\. New Neighbors pt. 2.  
> 3\. Lost and Found

Summer had given way to Fall in Moperville. 

Susan had started Moperville Community College to get the prerequisites for advanced degree college out if the way. Even though they had considerable resources in wealth, it was foolish to waste money when it wasn't needed. She could take the same classes for much less at the community college. She didn't have classes today so she wanted to resolve an issue that had been bothering her for some time. She walked across the street that morning to the home of Scott McLeod, her mother's boyfriend.

Susan found Scott in his workroom.  
She had knocked on the front door but apparently he hadn't heard, so she walked around the back of his house and heard him working there. The door was open so she went in.

“Mom said I should talk to you Mr. McLeod”, began Susan. 

Scott had gotten used to Susan calling him that, even though he had asked her to call him by his first name. He was giving her time to come to terms with him being in a relationship, which included having relations, with her mother (on MANY occasions).

“Ok Suze”, he said. She winced a bit at the nickname he had given her. He didn't feel brave enough to call her Susie yet, and doubted he ever would, but…baby steps. “What do you want to talk about?” 

He wasn't expecting what came next.

“I asked mother if the two of you were using protection when you were having sex. I know she hasn't entered menopause yet, so I wanted to make sure she wouldn't become pregnant.  
She told me that she wasn't using any but I should ask you also. She felt it was something YOU needed to tell me.”

Scott leaned his head back and took a deep breath before continuing. 

“She's right Susan, he said gravely, reverting back to her formal name. It IS something best coming from me.” In answer to your question...No, I don't use any protection…”  
“DON'T YOU THINK THAT'S IRRESPONSIBLE? Susan shouted, not realizing that she was. WHAT HAPPENS IF SHE BECOMES PREGNANT!?”

“First off, you don't need to shout. Secondly, Judith isn't going to get pregnant.” 

“How do you know”, Susan pushed, but a little calmer.

“Ten years ago I had a Vasectomy to prevent just that, Scott replied. I told your mother soon after our first night.”

Then why did she insist I ask you about it? A Vasectomy is no big deal, at least not to me”, stated Susan.

It's not the fact I had it Susan, Scott said, it's the REASON I had it.” 

“Was it because you and your wife didn't want to have any more children”, she asked.

No Susan, It was because we couldn't have any more children, more to the point, we shouldn't have any more children”, he said sadly.

“I don't understand”, said Susan.

Scott told her how, after her bout with breast cancer, they both wanted to have another child, so Racquel could have a sibling. 

“As we tried, Juliette had multiple miscarriages. After the third we underwent genetic testing to see if that was the source. The doctors told us that we both carried genetic anomalies that would result in severe birth defects, and that we should NOT EVER attempt to have any more children.”

“Oh my God, I'm so sorry”, said Susan.

“Thank you Susan. That means a lot to me”, replied Scott seriously. 

“The thing about it is, he continued, the odds of both of us having this anomaly AND finding each other were astronomical. Coupled with this is that Racquel should never have been born to begin with, much less grown up to eighteen years old. There was a 95% chance of the baby developing the defects with each pregnancy. Racquel was perfect in every way. She beat the odds. She was indeed our miracle child.”

“Even if Juliette had taken birth control medication there was still a chance of pregnancy, so both of us decided to go under the knife. Juliette had a Total Hysterectomy, and I had a Vasectomy. 

“Once both procedures were done, there was no chance of pregnancy happening. I went back for my follow-up check which confirmed the success of mine”.

“If she had her surgery, why did you need to have yours?” Susan asked. Hers would be sufficient it seems”.

“It’s like this Susan, he answered, Julie and I had been through everything together, her cancer, EACH and EVERY miscarriage, and the results of the genetic testing. I wasn't going to let her go through this alone, Scott replied. It was just that simple.”

“Do you intend to ask my mother to marry you?” she asked quietly.

Scott HAD been expecting this question.

“I want you to know Susan...I deeply love your mother. I have told her every chance I get. She hasn’t said it back to me yet though. We each reach this step at a different time. She doesn't appear to be ready yet; but that's alright. I'm not in any hurry and we have all the time in the world.” 

Susan wasn't expecting that answer. Every time Judith talked it was “Scott this, and Scott that”. She knew her mother had fallen HARD for this man, but Susan was afraid that if something happened, her mother was going to be badly hurt again and she just couldn't stand the thought of that happening. She never expected her mom to be the one with delayed feelings.

“Thank you...Scott”, Susan said. He noted the change in name and was encouraged.

“You are most welcome”, he returned.  
“Judith invited me for lunch, please tell her I'd love to come.”

“Yes sir”, Susan replied.

Scott thought after she left that he hoped he was right in telling her about his feelings and her mother's replies.

When she returned home she found her mother folding clothes in the washroom. 

She was singing to herself! Susan couldn't remember the last time she heard her mother singing. She had a beautiful voice.

“Scott says he would love to come for lunch mom.”

“Oh, thank you sweetheart!” she replied.

“I talked to him like you suggested and you were right. That WAS something that HE needed to tell me.” 

“I know Susie, her mother said, he told me about that shortly after our first date (and what a date it was). There's just no way that I could have done that justice.”

Susan got a serious look on her face and asked...May I ask you a personal question momma?”

“She hasn’t called me that in years thought Judith, this sounds serious”

“Of course sweetheart”, she answered worriedly.

“Do...do...you...love...Scott?

“Oh Wow”, Judith thought. A thousand different answers came to her mind, all of them wrong. So she answered with the simple truth…”I don't know sweetheart, I really don't know. He makes me feel good, really good inside. I feel very happy when he and I are together. He makes me feel feminine again. I haven't felt this way in so long. It’s the way I felt with your father when we were first together and maybe that's the trouble. I know Scott's not going to do anything like that. I've just had these old feelings for so long that it's very hard to change. He’s told me that he loves me so many times. I feel so bad that I haven't returned it to him yet. I don't know what to do

Susan felt badly for both of them but she didn't have any idea what to do, or even if she could or SHOULD do anything. She had no experience in love like this at all.

“Sometimes it's best just to wait and see”, she thought.

 

Scott cleaned up and came over to the Pompoms home at eleven thirty. Judith said lunch would be at twelve, but he wanted to help. They ate and talked. Susan’s outlook on the relationship had changed so she really enjoyed the company of both adults together. She no longer had doubts about Scott's intentions toward her mother. 

About halfway through lunch Scott received an unexpected call from Edward Verres. She knew he was acquainted with Mr. Verres through the Bureau, but he hadn't officially come off sabbatical yet.

Scott almost didn't take the call but something told him that this was important.

He stood up at the lunch table as he talked. Both Judith and Susan saw he had a concerned look on his face, but they could only hear one side of the conversation.

“You know I haven't been active in two years Edward”, he answered. “Davis, or Maldonado would be just as effective in this.”

“Scott...please, I need YOU for this!” Edward replied. Scott thought he had NEVER heard Edward plead before. “Why is it so important that it be me?” he asked.

“My niece Akiko is the child that's lost Scott, and even if it had been TEN years, you are still the best there is. Please find her!”

Hearing that it was Edward's family caused Scott to stand bolt upright.

“How long has she been lost?” he asked.

Two and a half hours was the answer.

“Weather in the area?” was the next question.

“Sunny but cool; no chance of rain. Tonight will be above freezing but not by much”, was the reply.

“Is transport on the way?” he asked.

“They took off two minutes ago, with an ETA of twenty minutes”. Edward replied.

“You were that sure of me Ed?”

“Absolutely Scott.”

“You know what I'll need when I arrive, is that correct?”

“It'll be there Scott, thank you”, ended Edward.

“Don’t thank me, I haven't found her yet”, Scott thought but didn't verbalize.

“I need to go”, he said simply. He turned and headed for the front door.

“Who is lost Scott”, Judith asked. Since their first date she knew what he did for work. He was a tracker, and apparently a good one. 

“A little girl, nine years old. She was on a school trip to the national park about ninety miles from here and got separated. No one has been able to find her for the last two hours. It’s cold there so you have to worry about hypothermia. It's Edward Verres’ niece. 

Judith and Susan had been following him out the door and across the street as he spoke. Susan stopped dead in her tracks at the identity of the lost child. “Akiko!?” Susan asked incredulously.

“You know her?” He asked. 

“Yes, her sister is one of my best friends”, Susan replied.

“She's really going to need your support, Scott said. That area is rough and finding a little girl is going to be difficult.”

“You will be able to find her, won't you?” Both Judith and Susan asked together.

He didn't want to lie or give false hope so he said “I hope so, I really hope so.”

He went straight to his bedroom closet and began selecting clothes. Judith and Susan came in as he did this.

He pulled out a long sleeve military style shirt, military style pants, tall lace-up boots with a really deep tread on the sole, and something that looked like football shoulder pads, only smaller. 

“Susan, please step out a moment”, he said. She started to protest, but as he started removing his clothing she got the message. “Please watch for the transport”, he yelled to her.

“What'll it look like?” she yelled back. 

“You'll know it when you see it!” was his reply.

He removed his outer garments and was left standing in his underwear. If the moment hadn't been so serious, Judith might have made a sly comment.

He put on a set of thin polypropylene long underwear to keep him warm and wick away moisture. He would be sweating a lot and very soon. He followed this with the football pads. They were very thin and pliable. They covered his neck all the way around and went up to the base of his skull in the back. His shoulders and upper chest were covered with them as well as the center of his back all the way to the base of his spine. In front they covered his upper chest down past the tip of his sternum. Judith didn't want to disturb him but she had to ask what they were.

“Poly-carbonate body armor. It fully articulates so as to not impede movement. It's very light, but incredibly strong. It protects against injuries to the chest neck and spine, he explained as he put it on. 

“Protect against what?” Judith thought, but didn't ask.

He then put on his pants and shirt. He added a thick tactical belt. He then laced up his boots. From a special drawer in his closet he removed a fanny pack that read "Emergency Medical" on a tag, and attached it to the belt at the small of his back. He also removed what looked like a large cell phone and placed it in his right side cargo pocket. Scott returned to the closet and retrieved a small odd looking back pack followed by a mid-length military style jacket. He put the jacket on and went to the bathroom and filled a water bladder in the backpack.

Lastly from the closet he retrieved a helmet that covered his head from mid-forehead to the base of his skull in the back.

Scott walked to his private office with Judith in tow. She had seen him outfit himself rapidly throughout and not said a thing. In his office he went over to a safe and work the combination. 

“Why would he need money?” she asked herself. She quickly had her answer…

From the safe Scott pulled out the biggest hand cannon she had ever seen. “What is THAT for?” she asked.

“Desert Eagle 50 caliber semi-automatic pistol”, he answered. He also removed a holster that he attached to his belt, but hung low on the side of his right thigh. It had a strap that he wrapped around his thigh to keep it stable. He withdrew three magazines, fully loaded. Scott inserted one into the base of the pistol, pulled the slide back and chambered a round. He thumbed the safety on, withdrew the magazine and loaded one round into it to replace the one in the pistol. He returned the magazine to the pistol and holstered his weapon. He placed the other magazines in pouches sewn into his pants. 

“There are things out there that I may need to use this on, he told Judith. I'm not talking about people either. I mean large animals that people don’t know are actually out there.”

“Oh God Scott!” she said worriedly.

“This is what I do Judith”, was all he could say.

He lastly removed from the safe two evil looking survival knives. One was eighteen inches long to which he attached the rigid sheath it was in to his belt on his left side. This was used to cut brush if needed. The other was about twelve inches which he fitted into a sheath attached to his right sided shoulder strap.

Now fully outfitted, he walked to the front door, ushered Judith out, locked it and met Susan in the front yard. 

“No one has shown yet”, she reported.

She was going to say more but she saw the huge weapon on his leg and gave her mother a concerned look. Judith just placed a finger to her lips and said she would tell her later.

“They'll be here in a minute”, he said looking at his watch. He gave his house keys to Susan and asked her to watch after things while he was gone.

From out of the distance they heard the low sound of a large engine approaching. It wasn't an automobile or a truck engine either. Then low over the trees came a large helicopter. Scott walked to the lot adjoining his home and motioned it to land there, which it did. He walked to Judith, kissed her passionately, told her he loved her and would see her later. He smiled and winked at Susan, gave her a little wave, and climbed into the helicopter.  
“OK guys”, he said to Agents Wolf and Cranium, who were in the compartment with him, “Let's Roll!” 

As the helicopter took off he looked out the window at the two people he cared for most in the world. 

“That the potential “missus”? Agent Wolf asked kiddingly. Cranium punched him on the leg eliciting an outraged “Oww!”

Scott smiled at that…”Hope so”, he said. “How are the two of you doing, by the way?”

“We're not dating!” they both said simultaneously.

“Yeeaah!” Scott answered sarcastically as they headed out.

As the helicopter took off Judith thought to herself that she should have told him she loved him back.

 

Susan called Nanase on her cell phone. Ellen, her girlfriend picked it up after the first ring. 

“Ellen!” she exclaimed, we just heard about Akiko. How are Nanase and her parents?”

Ellen answered that they were all worried but holding up. Edward Verres had sent a car to pick them up to take them to the search area. She and Nanase were instructed by her mother to stay by the phone in case any information came through.

Susan told them about Scott and that Edward had sent a helicopter to bring him to the scene. “Scott’s some sort of expert in things like this she explained. He should be there in about ten minutes”.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Susan asked.

Nanase asked if Susan could come to the Kitsune house and to bring one of her fairy dolls with her. She had an idea she wanted to try. Susan told her she would be there in about fifteen minutes.

She told her mom Nanase had asked her to come over and that she needed to go.

“I know sweetheart”, her mother replied.  
“Please tell Nanase we are keeping them our prayers.”

“I will mom. She will appreciate that” replied her daughter.

After Susan left she sat down to wait for information and Scott's return. She was concerned for both the little girl and her lover.  
“NO!” she thought, “he is so much more than that!” She would tell him so when he returned.

 

The helicopter compartment was large, even with three people occupying it. As they flew, Scott took in the information the two agents gave him. She had been dressed warmly as her parents knew it was cool that day. That was a plus. Hypothermia is a killer but that wouldn't be an issue for a while. 

About five minutes from the landing zone Scott began deep breathing and concentrating to activate a spell he possessed. He wasn't a powerful magic user, but what he had was very effective. 

“What are you doing? Agent Cranium asked. Both she and Wolf saw his actions and were curious

“Dialing up to twelve” Scott answered cryptically. He didn't have time to explain his abilities to them. He could either teach or do. He chose do.

“Oh…”replied Cranium. 

What he was doing was dramatically increasing the sensitivity of his senses. Doing this allowed him to see more, hear more and smell more than any human could. It put him on a plane of sensitivity equal to most animals, whose senses were much better than humans could ever be.

It also allowed him to move much faster than would be thought possible for people. Lastly, in his heightened state, his consciousness acted “time compressed”. He was able to think fast enough to react to his heightened abilities. Essentially it made Scott the fastest, most observant tracker in existence.

This spell had its downside though. Even though his abilities were enhanced, the spell didn’t make him invulnerable. He could be injured or even killed if he fell or impacted something while running. That’s what the body armor and helmet were for, to protect him from himself.

After landing, Edward walked to Scott and handed him a sealed bag. In it was a shirt Akiko had worn recently but had not been washed. It contained her scent. Scott would need this to find her. He sat in the compartment of the helicopter, placed the opened bag over his mouth and nose and breathed in the scent of the child. After about fifteen seconds of this it was locked into his brain. He returned the resealed bag to Edward and told him not to open it again. He didn't want any confusing tracks.

They had landed at her last known location and he was shown where she was last seen. Armed with this, be began his hunt.

 

Susan arrived at the Kitsune home and met Ellen at the door. She thanked her for coming so quickly and showed her to where Nanase was. She ask if Susan had brought the doll and she replied that she had. Susan had an idea what Nanase wanted to do. Over the past months both Susan and Nanase had been experimenting with directing their fairy dolls to locations they had never been to before, while transferring their consciousness to those dolls at the same time. Essentially, they had been visiting places in the dolls bodies. They had considerable success at this over short to moderate distance. They had even been successful at sending the dolls to specific people without knowing their exact location. They had practiced on Ellen with this and had found her over a distance of several miles. What they were trying to do here was going to be over ninety miles though. They hadn’t attempted anywhere near that distance before.

Susan had brought one that resembled herself. Little Nase had pouted at not being chosen but Susan promised she would pick her next time. Nanase had one that resembled herself.

They sat side by side and concentrated on Akiko, placing her firmly in their minds. They un- summoned both dolls and redirected them towards the general area where Akiko was thought to be. They then transferred their consciousness into the dolls as they sent them out, just like they had done in the past.

 

Scott started off at a rapid trot while he looked for signs of Akiko passing. He traveled in a zigzag pattern looking for trails and sniffing the air for her scent. He kept moving ever outward trying to judge the distance a 9 year old might have traveled in the elapsed time since was lost.  
Scott was very careful to check the bushes and undergrowth for broken branches, leaves out of place, or anything that would mark the passing of a human. Several time he caught a whiff of a scent that could be hers. He would stop and test the air to see which way it became stronger. Each time he lost it. 

Finally he spied the broken branch on a plant that couldn't have been accidental. He followed the track a ways until he found another one. He also caught her scent, much stronger this time. He had the general direction she was traveling so he set off in a straight line. Then he saw the footprint, or rather footprints. The oldest was that of a child. It was a tennis shoe print. The other was more recent. It was that of a bear, a big one. 

Bear aren't supposed to be in this area he thought. It must have left its home range and traveled here. The most likely reason for that is that its food supply had depleted and it was looking for better pickings somewhere else. This was bad!

As he traveled further he saw where the bear was following the track of the child. The bear was hunting, and the child was the hunted. He picked up his pace drastically.

 

Akiko was really lost and she knew it. "Momma is gonna kill me" she thought.

Her class had been on a trail walking together when she got distracted by a butterfly. She had been last in line. When she looked up, the others were gone. Everything looked the same in the woods so she started walking in the direction she thought they had traveled. She was heading perpendicular to that direction. By the time the leaders realized they were one child short she was out of shouting distance. She walked until she was tired. The trail they had been on hadn't been this tough so she must have gone the wrong way. Akiko turned in another direction, but it didn't look any better. She called out but everyone was out of ear shot. She started to get scared but knew she had to stay calm. She walked for about another hour until she came to her current location.

Akiko thought she heard something down the direction she had just come from. It sounded large so she called out to it thinking it was a person. 

About a three hundred feet away a very large bear came into view. It hadn't seen the little girl yet but it was on her trail. The bear stopped when she heard the little girl call. It knew where food was now!

Akiko saw the bear and froze. She had seen bear in zoos before, but they had been behind walls and unable to reach the spectators. This bear was huge to her and nothing was separating the two except open space. Instinctively she ran to the nearest tree and began to climb.

The bear saw Akiko run and start to climb. Bear are much faster than people realize for their size and can run down a human in no time. Akiko made to the lower branches of the tree just out of range by the time the bear reached her. She climbed higher to put more distance between her and it.

It stood up on its back legs! There was barely five feet between her and its head. It bellowed and swatted the tree with its paw. 

The whole tree shook, almost dislodging the little girl. Akiko screamed.

Two fairy dolls materialized just above Akiko.  
“Akiko!’ Nanase shouted, happy and relieved to see her. “Sissy!” Akiko returned, relieved at seeing her big sister, even if it was in doll form.

“Oh Shit!” Susan said seeing the bear. 

They flew down and tried to distract the bear. It ignored the two dolls until they started sending fairy punches at its eyes. Then it started to get mad. It swatted at them with its claws and bellowed with rage. Suddenly it lunged forward, striking the tree and causing Akiko to lose her grip. 

The child fell about fifteen feet to the ground. She was stunned from the impact. Both Nanase and Susan flew to her side. Neither knew what to do. The bear looked toward the little girl and started to descend. 

“Don’t look Akiko”, Nanase cried. Susan placed herself directly between Akiko and the bear.

 

Scott was running near full speed when he heard the first scream from Akiko.

“Oh God!” he thought, “Don't let me be too late” as he accelerated faster.

He saw the bear and Akiko from where the bear had first seen her. In his time compressed mind he realized how close it was to the little girl and that if he tried to shoot it in the head; the only place that would kill it quickly, it might bounce off its skull and strike the child. He suddenly saw what looked like strange birds appear and attack the bear. As he looked closer he saw they were magical constructs in the form of fairy dolls, and one of them looked like Susan. They were getting their asses handed to them by the bear. 

All this took place in a matter of seconds. Suddenly Akiko fell out of the tree. Scott accelerated toward the bear. From about one hundred feet away it looked like she was falling in slow motion. Scott decided it was time to do something REALLY Stupid. At thirty feet away he launched himself from a log. Akiko had just hit the ground and the bear was starting down.

 

Susan knew they were screwed. There was no way she could stop an animal that size. She didn’t know if she and Nanase could be injured while in doll form but what she did know was that Akiko was doomed. She couldn’t imagine what was going through her friend’s mind knowing her little sister was going to be killed and nothing could be done to stop it. She determined the bear was going to have to go through her to do it though.

She suddenly saw the strangest thing. Legs appeared on each of the bear’s sides. It got a surprised look on its face followed by one of rage. It stood back up and began to roar in pain. She flew to Akiko’s side with Nanase.

Scott had cleared the remaining thirty feet in the air. As he flew he unsheathed both knives. He hit the bear’s back and held on with his legs. He plunged both knives into the bears exposed neck up to the hilt. 

The bear went insane with rage. Something had attacked it from behind. It was heavy and had hurt it. The bear wanted it off. Scott held on as best he could with his legs and arms, but it was worse than trying to ride a bucking bronco.

He was thrown in every direction at once. The bear spun around once more and Scott lost his grip and went flying. He hit an outcrop of rocks, striking his back and head and almost losing consciousness. The bear covered the distance to him in an instant.

Susan and Nanase couldn’t believe what happened. They knew Akiko was going to die, no doubt about it. Then the bear turned away and they saw someone on its back. Susan instantly recognized Scott. 

“Oh my god! She screamed inwardly. He looked tiny on the bear’s back. He can’t survive this she thought.

She saw him thrown off and his impact. He didn’t move and the bear was on him almost instantly.

Scott felt the bear on him, felt its hot breath. It lunged at his head but he was able to move slightly to his right so it didn't crush his skull but bit down on his shoulder. His body armor saved his life. It prevented the bear’s teeth from penetrating his body, but not the bite force itself. Scott felt bones crush between his neck and his shoulder. The bear shook him like a terrier shakes a rat. The pain was excruciating. He screamed in agony as he tried to reach his thigh. 

Susan saw the bear take Scott in its mouth and maul him in front of her.  
She heard him scream.

“YOU GET AWAY FROM HIM” she screamed as she flew toward them, having absolutely no idea what she was going to do.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! 

Eight shots sounded as Scott shoved the pistol under the bear’s jaw and emptied it into the bear’s head.

Susan saw a fountain of blood, bone, and brain with each shot.

She stopped dead mid-flight as the shots sounded. The bear lay still, a large portion of its head was missing. Scott was motionless beneath the monster. 

“Scott?” she called to him. He didn't answer. 

“SCOTT?” she called much louder this time and flew to his head. 

His eyes were closed but opened as she came near. “Susan…is that really you?” he asked. She answered in the affirmative. 

“I didn't know you had an avatar spell” he said painfully. 

She cried and laughed at the same time.

 

“I…need to get up” he said as he began to twist out from under the carcass. He groaned in pain with each movement, but he was finally able to extricate himself. He sat up slowly and found he was unable to use his left arm. 

“Oh Man that's gonna smart in the morning” he said.

Nanase flew over to see how he was. 

How Is Akiko? Scott asked. 

“She's very scared, said Nanase. Really sore from the fall, and I think she hurt her ankle too.”

“How are you Scott?” Susan asked worriedly. He looked like hell, but she didn't want to say anything.

“Not so good he said slowly and painfully. The bear broke my collarbone, pretty sure my shoulder blade is broken too from the rocks. Judging from my left arm I'd say my shoulder is dislocated. I…think I broke a bunch of ribs…on my left side too”. He looked at his helmet. The rear of it was crushed from the blow from the rocks. “Well this did its job. I probably would have died if I hadn't worn it. I probably have a concussion too.” He walked painfully over to Akiko and bent carefully down to see her.

“Hello young…lady, he said. My name is…Scott and I'm here.to take you home.”

“I just hope I can do it" he thought.

He tucked his left arm into his shirt to try and stabilize it and holstered his pistol. He left the knives in the carcass. Scott really didn’t want to go back over to the bear. He took the phone out of his cargo pocket and dialed a number. 

“I don't think there is cell service out here”, Nanase said helpfully.

“Satellite phone” Scott answered. He also thumbed a button on his watch that activated an emergency location beacon that would also be picked up by satellite. This was used when the wearer was either lost or injured in the wilderness. 

“EMERGENCY LOCATION SIGNAL COMING IN’ a communication officer reported to Edward Verres.

“SATELLITE COMMUNICATION INBOUND” another one reported.

“Get a fix on that emergency beacon, snapped Edward, and route that phone call over here!”

Scott told Edward that he had found his niece and that she was safe. He let her know that she had a pretty significant ankle sprain from the fall. He also reported about Susan and Nanase being there. Edward became worried when he told him the extent of his injuries and how he received them.

YOU ATTACKED WHAT!!! Edward replied incredulously. 

“A big…ass Grizzly Bear” Scott answered. I…didn't have any choice Ed. And he told him why. He told Edward that he was going to need helicopter extraction as he didn’t think they were going to be able to walk the distance in miles back to camp. 

“You're bleeding from your ears Scott”, Susan said worriedly. 

“Oh boy, he thought to himself. I was afraid of that happening”.

When he hit his head on the rocks, the helmet he was wearing did its job in protecting his outer skull from being crushed by absorbing the impact. His inner skull, above the roof of his mouth was another matter. The bones there are very thin and susceptible to fracture, especially if one has been bucked off a thousand pound bear into solid rock.

What he had was a small Basal Skull Fracture. Not life threatening, but not good to have, especially when mixed with a concussion and other injuries. The pain made it difficult to think.

He updated Edward with the new information. There were no suitable clear areas to handle a helicopter landing nearby and they were too far away for a team to walk in to meet them. Edward told Scott there was a clearing about one mile east of their location. They could meet the transport there.

Scott was really starting to feel bad. His headache was very painful, he was short of breath, and his left side was just one mass of agony. “OK Edward” was all he could say. There really was no other option.

He talked to the dolls and told them what they needed to do. Susan didn’t like the way he was breathing. He said that one of his broken ribs had probably punctured a lung. You can survive with that, but it wasn’t going to be fun. He didn’t call Edward back because he couldn’t have done anything different anyway. Nanase asked how Akiko was going to be able to walk that distance over rough terrain with her ankle. He replied by asking Akiko to stand on her good leg and raise both of her hands above her head. Once she had done this, he took her hands in his and lifted her onto his back, piggyback style. It hurt like hell, but what do you do? They then set off.

Walking for one mile doesn’t seem like a hard thing to do. On an open road or track, a human can leisurely accomplish this in about twenty minutes. This was not an open road or track. This is a densely forested area with thick underbrush, rocks and logs to climb over, and just general lousy walking conditions. It would take them at least an hour and a half to cover the distance. Longer with rest breaks.

As they walked Scott felt his shortness of breath getting worse. He didn’t say anything to the older girls because he didn’t want to worry them. He would have killed for some water though. The bladder in his backpack had ruptured when he hit the rocks. That and his body armor had saved him from breaking bones in his back, but he was dehydrated because of the increased metabolism from his spell.

They had been traveling about twenty minutes. With each step it got harder and harder for Scott to breath. Not just being out of breath, but actual labored breathing. His head was killing him. His vision was blurring, and he was having a lot of difficulty thinking. 

“Scott, your face is purple!” Susan exclaimed panicky. At that moment, he stopped dead, he simply could not put one foot in front of the other anymore. Scott apologized to Akiko as he reached backward and removed her from his back. He fell backwards into a sitting position, which jarred his left side causing his thoughts to clear a bit, but not much..

Both dolls flew over to his face and looked panicked. “What’s wrong sir” Nanase asked. 

“I…don’t know” replied Scott slowly. He knew instinctively something really bad was happening but couldn’t put it together in his current state of confusion. 

“Akiko…please come here” he said. 

“I can walk a little if you need me to” she said, “My leg really feels a lot better she lied.”

“Thank…you…sweetheart” he said through labored respirations. 

He removed his watch with the location beacon, and placed it in her pocket. “I want…you to… keep this. It…will help…your uncle to…find you.”

He told Susan and Nanase to take Akiko to a distance where she couldn’t see him. 

Both asked why…

“I…don’t want…a nine…year…old to…see me…die.”

WHAT…NO! they both shouted. 

He told them it was happening and he couldn’t stop it. He handed Susan the phone and told her, that once they were away, to dial Edward to relay what happened to the helicopter crew so they would walk in and follow the beacon to Akiko. “And to get my body” he thought to himself.

He told them to go. Susan pleaded with him to come, but he said it was not possible. He had started to turn blue with cyanosis. 

As she turned to go, he told her…”I…Love…You…Suze...Tell…Judith…too.

She sobbed as they slowly helped Akiko walk painfully away.

 

The three moved slowly to about fifty yards away. The thickness of the woods blocked all view from Scott.

Nanase dialed the number and told her uncle what had happened. As she talked, Susan sat beside Akiko with her knees drawn up to her chin, hugging her lower legs. She rocked as she cried. 

She thought to their parting. He wanted Susan to tell her mother that he loved her. He told HER he loved her.

“NO!” she screamed and took off back to him.

 

“So…you just gonna lay there and die, Old Man?”

Scott had been gasping for breath and laying with his eyes closed when he heard the unfamiliar voice.  
He opened his eyes slowly and saw sitting on a log beside him a young man he had never seen before. He looked to be in his late teens to early twenties, wearing a light vest over his clothes. He was wearing a Santa hat.

Go away Scott thought, I’m not going to spend my last minutes being tortured by a snarky hallucination.

The snarky hallucination reached over and punched him in the shoulder.

“SONOFABITCH” Scott yelled as best he could.

“Now that I have your attention…my name is Zeus. Your last minutes are considerably longer than you think…look around.”

Scott raised his head and took in his surroundings. It was deadly quiet, no sound whatsoever. Leaves that had fallen from trees were suspended above the ground, a bird with wings unfurled was hanging motionless twenty feet directly above him.

“What!?” thought Scott.

“I’ve slowed down time for a very short period so we can talk. Actually I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen. You have something wrong with you that you can fix, he continued. I’m not allowed to tell you directly, but I want you to think about how you got hurt and how you have progressed afterward. More specifically, what is happening to you now.”

“What is he talking about?” thought Scott.

“I don’t have time for charades”, Zeus retorted, check your body, see what’s going on. The answer is there!

“Look fella, he continued, I’m not here to help you, I’m here to help Susan. But if guiding you helps her, then mores the better.

He didn’t understand fully what was being said, but he started mentally going over the events of the last hour or so. He also noticed that the objects that had been suspended around him had started moving again albeit very slowly. Time was speeding back up and his was running out.

He swallowed worriedly and felt his throat be really sore as he did. He reached up to feel. All the structures in his neck were shoved to the right! 

“HOLY SHIT, THAT’S IT!” 

“There you go old man!” Zeus exclaimed with a big smile. “Looks like you might have help coming too,” he said looking off in the distance.

 

Scott looked up and the man was gone. Time was back to its regular speed, and he was gasping for breath again, BUT HE KNEW WHAT HE HAD TO DO!

Susan flew into the scene yelling GODDAMNITSCOTTMCCLEODYOU’RENOTDYINGONMYMOMANDME! 

Scott painfully rolled to his left causing bones to scrape together. “AUUGGG SHIT!” he yelled, though the pain helped him clear his mind.

Susan stopped above his head. “What are you trying to do? Please Scott I want to help!”

In response, he ripped the fanny pack off the belt and rolled back on his back. He couldn’t breathe well enough to talk but he was able to open the pack and reach in to remove a six inch long needle packaged in a sterile wrapper.

“Un…button…my…shirt…hurry!” he said through gasps.

Susan flew down and began to do as he asked. Once she had gotten four buttons undone, the body armor was visible. Scott reached up with his only useful hand and pulled the zipper down that joined the two sides together over the center of his chest. He took the packet and tore it with his teeth. Then he pulled the left side of his body armor away from his chest. The spaces between each rib were bulging outward.

He had a Tension Pneumothorax. When the rib had punctured his lung it had collapsed. Usually this will seal whatever puncture was made and the lung just stays collapsed like an deflated balloon. In this case it didn’t work like that. The puncture leaked air into Scott’s left chest. The air went in, but couldn’t get out. This happened with every breath he took. As a result, as more and more air was trapped on the left side, it started shoving organs like his heart, lungs and trachea to the right. As more air became trapped, these organs were compressed, especially the heart and lungs. Blood couldn’t circulate and lungs couldn’t breathe. Scott was literally dying with each and every breath he took. The trick was to release the pressure and he had the means to do that in his hand.

To her horror, Susan saw Scott stab himself in the left upper chest with a big ass needle. He pulled the inner needle out, leaving a plastic catheter in his chest. When he pulled the needle out, an audible hissing sound occurred.

Almost immediately he began to feel better. As the pressure in his chest was released, his heart and lung began to function much more efficiently. His color improved dramatically.  
After about five minutes, he was able to set up. 

Susan cried with relief and flew over to hug his face.

“God that was close!” he said.

While he recovered a little more he told Susan what had happened, and what almost killed him.

She hadn’t seen Zeus since the Mall Incident. She WAS very thankful he was still on the job though.

The catheter needed to stay in his chest to keep it deflated so he took a clip from the wrapper and attached the catheter surgically to the skin on his chest. It hurt, but it was worth it.

Scott got up slowly. He was still very dizzy and he knew he wasn’t out of the woods yet, both figuratively and literally. They walked slowly together to where Nanase and Akiko were.

When Nanase saw him her mouth flew open and she hugged his face also. Akiko simply asked him if he felt better after resting. The child had no idea anything had happened, and that was how he had wanted it.

Scott took the phone back and called Edward to let him know they were mobile again. You could hear and feel the relief through the phone from his friend. Scott said that he believed he could make the rest of the journey without causing the crew to come for them. 

He also retrieved his watch from Akiko. 

 

The remainder of the journey took over an hour and a half. It was nowhere as difficult for Scott as the first twenty had been. It’s amazing how much better a journey is when something isn’t trying to kill you with each breath. 

He was feeling much weaker by the time they reached the clearing, but the sound of the helicopter engine helped to spur them on. He helped remove Akiko from his back and handed her to the attendants. Scott insisted Akiko get in first. They buckled her in and applied Ice to her ankle. Next he got in, while Susan and Nanase flew in with him. Agents Wolf and Cranium were there also. 

The medics examined Scott closely. His vital signs were acceptable, though not perfect. They splinted his left shoulder and clavicle so they wouldn’t move around. There wasn’t much they could do with the broken ribs, which were considerable. The best thing to do was to keep him still. Scott had no complaint about that. They were highly impressed that he had decompressed his own chest. Scott said that he had a little help with that, but didn’t elaborate further.

After taking off the attendants started an IV line on Scott in his good arm. They gave him IV pain medication which made him drowsy. Throughout all this Susan watched Scott with great anxiety. She and her mother had almost lost him and this upset her greatly. Cranium saw this and told her that he was in the best of care. She told Susan that they were flying directly to the trauma center in Moperville and would be there in about fifteen minutes.

She told Nanase that her parents had also been picked up by helicopter and were headed that way too.

Scott felt really bad but the pain medication had helped a lot. The last of his magic had been spent on the journey to the landing zone and he entered the burnout that occurred afterward.

He said that if nobody minded, he was going to pass out now. And he did.

This upset Both Susan and Nanase. Both looked expectantly at the medic who told them that other than having fainted, he was stable. This did little to allay their concern.

Five minutes from the hospital, Susan told Nanase she was un-summoning so she could get her mother. Nanase said she was going to stay until they landed to be with Akiko.

Susan jumped up so quickly at the Kitsune house that she startled Ellen. She told Susan that Edward had called to tell her that everyone was safe, but didn’t give her any particulars.

“What happened!?’ Ellen asked as Susan bolted for the door. “NO TIME!” Susan yelled back as she ran to her car.

Susan broke land-speed records driving home. She jumped out of the car and sprinted up her walkway. Going through her mind was “OHGOD!OHGOD!OHGOD!OHGOD!OHGOD!”  
She hit the door and “MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!” erupted from her.

Judith was standing in the living room with her coat and a small suitcase. “I’m here Susan…let’s go!” she replied. 

On the way to the hospital she told Susan that Edward had called and told her what had happened, including the bear. She said he told her that Scott was hurt significantly, but would recover, though it would take some time, and that Susan was on the way to pick her up. 

“Oh Damn he’s good!” thought Susan. 

 

They entered immediately into the Emergency Department and asked where Scott McLeod was at the information desk. The receptionist asked if they were family and Judith immediately responded, to Susan’s surprise, that they were his wife and daughter. The receptionist called to the Nurses desk to let them know that they were here. In less than thirty seconds, a nurse came through the doors and escorted them to the trauma bay where Scott was. 

He wasn’t in the room. Both women panicked until the nurse told them he was in Radiology getting an MRI on his head to evaluate his head injury.

She said that the paramedic had told them what had happened when he reported to them.  
She told Judith that her husband was the bravest man she had ever met and that they should be proud of him. 

The nurse advised that the doctor had inserted a tube in his chest to help re-expand his collapsed lung. He had multiple x-rays to evaluate his broken bones, and had been given strong pain medicine for the discomfort he was in. 

Susan asked how Akiko was. The nurse said that, as much as she was allowed to tell, she was fine and would be going home in a little while.

They couldn’t do anything else except sit in the chairs and wait.

In what seemed like an eternity, but was actually about twenty minutes, the Doctor walked in and asked if they were his wife and daughter. Both answered yes. He introduced himself as Dr. Anderson. He told them that Scott was an amazing person, also one of the luckiest.

He told them the list of his injuries… A fractured Clavicle, A fractured Scapula, six broken ribs on his left side, a partially treated Tension Pneumothorax on the left, and a dislocated left shoulder. He said that the MRI had revealed a small Basal Skull Fracture, and, because of the blow to his head, probably a moderate concussion.

As he read the list of injuries the two women became more and more frightened for Scott 

He reassured that, even though he was extremely banged up, he was going to be, with time, just fine.  
Both Judith and Susan stifled a sob with this news. 

The doctor said that Scott was going to need to go to surgery to have his shoulder reduced because of all the other fractures in the adjacent areas of his chest. His muscles had tightened up around his shoulder which made it impossible to put it back in while awake. He explained that they would give him strong narcotic medicine to put him to sleep, then medicine to relax his muscles. He further explained that because of all the medicine given, he wouldn’t be able to breathe on his own for a short period of time so they would need to breathe for him. Once his shoulder was back in place, they would reverse the medication and he would wake up. 

He said someone would be in once Scott returned to have her sign the consent for the procedure. Judith panicked at this. She had impersonated being his wife to be able for her and Susan to be with him. She couldn’t consent to him being operated on! She didn’t know what to do.

Scott was rolled back into the room as she was pondering this. Both women looked at him as he came in and thought “OH MY GOD”. 

To put it mildly…he looked like hell. 

Bruising had begun around both eyes. He looked like a raccoon! The nurse explained that was normal in a case of a skull fracture like Scott had. He had multiple IV lines in his good arm, and a large clear tube draining bloody drainage from his left side into a sealed container. The nurse reconnected this to wall suction. He also had a urinary catheter bag hanging on the side of the stretcher he was laying on. They both knew where THAT originated.

His eyes were closed as he rolled in, but opened quickly when the nurse told him his family was here. He looked confused because of the medication he had been given, as his real family had died two years prior, but Judith quickly came to his side and told him that both she and Susan were there. He smiled when he heard that. 

The nurse said she would give them a few minutes alone, then be back with the consent form.

Judith kissed Scott. She then told him what they had done, and what the doctor wanted her to do. She knew he couldn’t legally give consent, but she didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly the nurse came back into the room with a clipboard. Both Judith and Susan were flustered.

Scott took Judith’s hand in his and said…”I trust your judgment sweetheart, you can sign for me.” He winked at her as he said this.

With that having been said, Judith Pompoms took the legal consent form and signed “Judith P. McLeod” in the signature line.  
They soon took Scott to the operating area.

While they waited, both Judith and Susan had time to think. Both made decisions.

 

The procedure went perfectly. After they the staff brought him into the recovery area, they went to bring Judith and Susan to him.

The bruising around his eyes had increased. Once again they were assured that this was normal. They sat on each side of him. Judith holding his uninjured hand, Susan with her hand touching him mid arm on his injured side. It took him a little while to wake up fully from all the pain medication he had been given.

He smiled at both of them and told both that he loved them. 

Judith looked directly into his eyes and said…”Scott Alistair McLeod, will you marry me?” 

You could have knocked Susan down with a feather. Her mouth flew open and eyes got wide as saucers.

He looked deeply at Judith and answered “Yes”.

Both Judith and Susan cried at his answer. Judith kissed him deeply, Susan hugged him, forgetting his left side was injured resulting in a small “Yelp!” for which she apologized profusely.

He then whispered to Judith…”Can you please get them to get rid of this catheter?”

Later, after he had been moved to his room, Judith had gone to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Susan had begged off saying she wasn’t hungry. She sat by Scott’s right side. He had been dozing but woke up. He saw Judith wasn’t in the room. He wanted to talk to Susan privately anyway. He reached over and took her hand; she let him. 

“I saw what you did today” he said. Susan didn’t say anything so he continued…”when you put yourself between Akiko and the bear. That was a very brave thing to do!” I was so proud of you when I saw that!” he said. 

Then he continued…”did you tell Judith how close I came to dying today?” Susan answered no.  
“Please don’t, he replied, that’s not something she needs to know, and it’s not ever going to be an issue again.”

Susan suspected what he meant. She took his hand and laid her cheek on it. Susan generally avoided touching someone so this was a remarkable moment for him. It got even better. 

“This afternoon you said you loved me” she began. “Why did you do that?” “I know you love mom, but why me?”

Scott thought for a moment how he wanted to say this…then he began. “my being with your mother was always a package deal, he said. As I loved her, I loved you too. It’s how it should be. You two are not exclusive. You’re a family and you don’t exclude family in love. I saw you do an incredibly brave thing today. Afterwards as I was dying, I knew I hadn’t told you how I felt. Before, I had wanted to give you space; to let you discover things in their own time. Today made that impossible and I wanted you to know before I left this earth how I felt about you; that I love you. It didn’t make a difference whether it was reciprocated or not. I just wanted YOU to know it. 

As he spoke Susan began to tear up.

“I want you to also know, he continued, when your mother and I are married, I’m not trying to replace your dad. No one has the right to do that. HE is your father, and nothing can change that. I don’t know what will happen with you and him, but I will love you and treat you as I did my own daughter, and I loved her more than life. You have my promise with that.

Tears were streaming down Susan’s face as he said this. 

“I love you Scott,” she said. 

From the entrance to the room they heard a loud sob and Judith rushed in.

She hugged Susan tightly, then turned and hugged Scott carefully.

“I love you Scott McLeod” she said.

“I love you too Judith McLeod” he said.

Both Judith and Susan liked the sound of that.

Epilog.

Scott had to stay in the hospital for several days, primarily due to the need to wait for his re expanded lung to heal so they could remove the chest tube.  During this time the Kitsunes visited. Both Mrs. and Mr. Kitsune embraced him and thanked him profusely for saving their daughter. Nanase and Ellen were with them and both kissed and hugged Scott.  Akiko hugged him and thanked him for saving her from the bear. 

Susan and Judith were present when Edward came to visit.  He embraced Scott, thanking him. He apologized because he felt he was responsible for his injuries.  Scott told him solemnly that if anything had happened differently, or if anyone else had gone in his place, the ending would have been much worse.  In this case, he truly was the only one who could have pulled this off and brought Akiko home safely.

That being said,  Scott told him that he was officially resigning as a Special Consultant.  He said that even though he was only in his mid forties, this episode served to convince him that this was a younger man's job.  It would be months before he would be back to normal. Scott told him about his engagement and that he had a family who were depending on him now, so he had to put them first.  He had told Judith and Susan about his decision to retire prior to seeing Edward. He told them that they were first in his life now and he needed to be there with them. Both agreed.

Edward said he understood and congratulated the couple.  In passing, he had told Scott several weeks prior that the Pompoms needed him as much as he needed them, so he knew they would be very happy. 

The doctor said that he needed to be watched closely for several days due to his head injury.  Judith and Susan said that would not be an issue (as far as anyone in the hospital knew, they were a married couple with a daughter).  Both Pompoms women told him he would be staying with them while he convalesced. 

When he was released from the hospital he still had his left arm in a sling and strapped to his side to stabilize his shoulder.  Judith had gone to his house and packed clothes for an extended stay. As they walked into the Pompoms home Susan took his bags upstairs.  Scott asked which guestroom he would be using. 

“Oh no, Judith replied, you will be staying with me.  There's plenty room in my bedroom and the bed is certainly big enough.”

Scott believed that this was the absolute best that he could have ever hoped for.


End file.
